Eight arrested for attempting to leak AIPMT paper in Varanasi

5/2/2016

LUCKNOW: In a major crackdown, special task force of UP police arrested a group of eight persons from Varanasi on Sunday morning for trying to leak, solve and sell All India Pre-Medical test (AIPMT) paper.

Being organized by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) lakhs of MBBS aspirants appeared for the exam across the country on Sunday morning. Last year AIPMT paper was cancelled as Harayana police busted a gang active in Rohtak district which managed to leak the paper successfully in the middle of exam.

This time however the gang busted did not possess question paper. Senior superintendent of special task force, Amit Pathak said, "Kingpins are being questioned. We feel they were in touch with some men who have been trying to leak competitive exam paper in other states."

Among the group of eight, 21-year-old girl from Patna was supposed to play a crucial role and was waylaid by sleuths outside R S Convent school. Located in Sarnath area of Varanasi, girl had to appear for the exam at the convent school.

She was taken away and frisked properly by female cops. A sophisticated ear bug and a small box containing battery and GSM SIM card were recovered from innerwear of the girl. "Powered by Bluetooth, listening devices had been used in Harayana last year and this time same modus operandi was being employed in Uttar Pradesh," said Gyanendra Nath Prasad, DySP of STF's Varanasi unit.

The girl was expected to read out questions to solvers. Sitting in a rented room in Varanasi, solvers were to start preparing answer key for disseminating it to candidates who had paid money to the gang in advance. Police have located three such candidates so far and were gathering details about others.

The main kingpin of the gang was identified as Abhimanyu Kumar (44) from Patna. Kumar is into business of gadgets and import high-end electronic devices to the country, said police. During interrogation police found out that the girl was related to Abhimanyu.

"She is Abhimanyu's niece and was convinced to come on board. Her last two attempts to clear pre-medical test exams did not pay off and she agreed to help her maternal uncle," said Prasad. Logistics and support at Varanasi was managed by Rajiv Kumar Srivastava (41). Rajiv owns an IT consultancy firm and offers computer and web solutions to local businessmen at Varanasi.

Police have recovered Rs 2 lakh in cash, some post-dated cheques, copies of admit cards of some AIPMT candidates, three four-wheelers including Rajiv's Ford Endeavour and 12 cell phones.

Attempts to leak pre-medical test exams have been made repeatedly in Uttar Pradesh. Last year 12 persons were arrested in May for trying to leak UP CPMT paper. Three MBBS students from prestigious government universities, were caught red-handed solving papers and sent behind bars along with others.